Stewarding natural resources in the anthropocene: understanding pes schemes from different sustainable development approaches

Sammanfattning: Using language as an instrument to achieve our visions has been the norm since the first guttural utterances of our ancestors. Our refined communication abilities of today have led mankind to achieve amazing progress, not the least of which is our ability to discuss about and plan for a sustained future. With the help of language, actors promote their often conflicting opinions about what the future should entail. In the past centuries, a great strain has been put on examining the relationship between the growth of society and the effects this has on the natural resources which support us. The combination of disdain about a degrading environment and the inequalities stemming from societal growth has led to the phrase, “sustainable development”, to enter the linguistics of planning for the future. This thesis expands upon three main epistemologies, (environmental, economic, and sociological) from the historical underpinning of sustainable development, and uses those three perspectives to analyze PES schemes as a tool to lead humans to a sustained and prosperous future. The aim of this literature review is to reveal how certain authors may promote their perceptions of sustainable development while discussing PES schemes and their potential to sustain the future both for humans and natural resources. This thesis also examines how promoting certain sustainable development agendas can lead to theoretical trade-offs between the differing agendas while laying the foundation for PES schemes.